Forge expands footprint with new office and lab space in Torrey Mesa, San Diego

-“What it Means to be Handcrafted in San Diego” Open House Event to
Commemorate New Space-

San Diego, California, March 12, 2018 – Forge Therapeutics, Inc. (Forge), a biotechnology company developing novel medicines targeting metalloenzymes, today announced the expansion of its local footprint into a new 7,000 square foot Alexandria lab and office space located in the Torrey Mesa area of San Diego, CA. To celebrate the expansion, Forge and Alexandria are hosting an open house event at its new facility which will include participation by local government and recognized organizations that support early-stage biotechnology in San Diego.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer commented, “Today’s celebration is another proud moment for San Diego’s innovation community. By expanding its footprint and doubling its workforce, Forge is strengthening our city’s reputation as a leader in medical research and innovation. Success stories like this demonstrate how it important it is that we are creating the kind of environment where companies like this can grow and thrive.”

“Congratulations to Forge Therapeutics, which has taken San Diego innovation global. The national rhetoric around trade has not made it easy for businesses to create international partnerships, but supporting local companies as they expand overseas leads to economic growth and creates jobs here in San Diego. I hope that success stories, like Forge’s and other groundbreaking companies in San Diego, can help change that,” added Representative Scott Peters.

“We are extremely proud to be growing our footprint in San Diego. This biotechnology ecosystem consisting of groundbreaking science, educated investors, strategic advisors and local supporters has allowed us to thrive and expand in ways that we couldn’t have imagined,” said Zachary A. Zimmerman, Ph.D., CEO of Forge. “With our new space, we plan to double our headcount in the next several years and aggressively advance our BLACKSMITH platform to invent novel medicines to treat ‘superbug’ infections and other serious unmet medical needs.”

BLACKSMITH Platform & Strategy
Forge’s platform called BLACKSMITH comprises a deep knowledge of metalloenzymes, bioinorganic and medicinal chemistry know-how, and a focused fragment library of proprietary metal-binding pharmacophores (MBPs) that provide selective & diverse starting points for novel inhibitors. Our strategy is to use the BLACKSMITH platform to discover new chemical matter for the treatment of a broad range of diseases in areas of unmet needs with initial efforts in the area of infectious disease. To date, Forge has performed several metalloenzyme screens with high hit rates providing multiple starting points to build potent selective inhibitors of metalloenzymes across a variety of therapeutic areas.

About Forge TherapeuticsAt Forge Therapeutics, we are developing medicines targeting metal-dependent enzymes found in nature. Over 30% of known enzymes are metalloenzymes covering all major enzymes classes: oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, and ligases. Metal ions, including magnesium, zinc, iron, manganese, calcium, cobalt, and copper are the essential ingredient in these metalloenzymes. At Forge, we are the BLACKSMITHS of modern medicine, providing the tools to address any metalloenzyme challenge.

Forge’s lead effort is focused on LpxC, a zinc metalloenzyme found only in Gram-negative bacteria and which is essential for bacteria to grow. Forge has a strategic alliance with leading drug discovery alliance and development partnership company Evotec AG and has been awarded multiple government awards including CARB-X. In addition, Forge has amassed a rich intellectual property estate on metalloprotein inhibitors to protect its BLACKSMITH platform and pipeline including technology licensed from UCSD. For further information, please visit the company’s website www.ForgeTherapeutics.com and follow us on Twitter @ForgeThera.